Face to Face: Terence Crawford and Jeff Horn Meet at Final Press Conference
Crawford to challenge WBO welterweight champion Horn, Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena
Broadcast LIVE on ESPN+ beginning at 9:30 ET.
LAS VEGAS (June 7, 2018) – After the months of trash talk, Terence “Bud” Crawford and WBO Welterweight champion Jeff “The Hornet” Horn met face to face for the first time.
Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), the pound-for-pound great from Omaha, Nebraska, is seeking a world title in a third weight class against the unbeaten Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs).
On the undercard, Jose Pedraza (23-1, 12 KOs), from Cidra, Puerto Rico, will challenge Antonio Moran (22-2, 15 KOs) in a 10-rounder for the WBO Latino Lightweight belt; Shakur Stevenson (6-0, 3 KOs), a 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, will step up in class against Aelio Mesquita (16-1, 14 KOs) in an eight-round Featherweight contest; Light Heavyweight prospect Steve Nelson (10-0, 8 KOs) will take on Dashon Webster (10-1, 6 KOs) in a six-rounder; and 18-year-old Super Featherweight sensation Gabe Flores Jr (7-0, 5 KOs) will face Jorge Rojas (4-3-1, 2 KOs) in a six-round bout.
And, in a battle of unbeatens, Welterweight contender Jose Benavidez (26-0, 17 KOs) will face the iron-fisted Frank Rojas (22-0, 21 KOs) of Caracas, Venezuela, in a 10-rounder.
This is what the main event fighters had to say at Thursday’s press conference.
Terence Crawford
“He’s viewing me as this small Welterweight. Come fight night, he’ll see otherwise. I just feel like that’s good for him. He’s coming in hungry and determined, and that makes for a good fight. I’m going to be prepared for whatever he brings. Come Saturday, he might get hurt.”
“I’m bigger. I’m stronger. I’m in my prime. And that’s gonna show come Saturday. A lot of people are comparing how he pushed around Pacquiao, but that’s not me. Pacquiao is 5’5, I believe, 5’6. I feel like you’re viewing that and comparing the Gamboa fight, when I got hurt, to this fight. I’ve seen him get hurt. I’ve seen him get dropped. We’re gonna see come Saturday night who’s gonna be getting rocked and dropped.”
“I got a strong will as well. Pressure breaks pipes. A lot of people came into the ring with me with a strong will, and they left with their tail tucked in.”
“I’m going to let the referee {Robert Byrd} do his job, and I’m going to do my job.”
Jeff Horn
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“I’m surprised I’m as big of an underdog as I am for the fight. I’m not surprised I am the underdog. Terence Crawford is a great fighter, pound-for-pound, wiped out the Super Lightweight division. That’s a tough division as well. I’ve made this mistake before. I underestimated a guy that was slightly smaller than me – in the amateurs – and he knocked me down a couple times. I won’t be making that same mistake. Terence, I know he’s put on the size. He’s going to be a nice, strong Welterweight. I can’t wait to get in there and prove the doubters wrong.”
“That guarantees a win if you knock the other guy out. If you search for it too much, that’s when it doesn’t come. You can’t just be looking for the knockout all the time, and I just have to fight the best fight I can and rely on even scoring. I feel like back home {against Pacquiao} it was even scoring, and I feel like it will be the same here.”
“I’ve just got to fight my heart out, and that’s all I can do.”
Header photo and gallery by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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